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Custom Skin Creation

I've been wondering how you could make custom skins.. I have no clue how and I really would like to make a few skins, is it file-based or is there something else I must do?

Comments

  • Just tried out making a few myself, and there's quite a few large gaps in the documentation. The basics are covered, but a few more advanced features like using Blender to directly paint on the model aren't, due to tutorial videos having been taken down and links to written tutorials leading to dead pages.

    Would help if some of the more experienced authors shared some of their resources to fill in the gaps. For example, I couldn't find complete versions of the base game's alternate skins (SpadeScout's seem to be missing chunks of them, like head textures), but given I've seen edits of those skins, they must exist somewhere. A guide to Blender wouldn't go amiss, either, since doing patterns that go over seams in the model without it seems damn near impossible and I doubt many (myself included) find the prospect of reading through the whole manual to figure out this one feature very appealing.

    I can throw in the .psd templates I made for the dragoness in the course of my own project for others to use as a springboard.
  • I see, custom skin making is more complicated than I thought..
  • Hardest part is getting the skin to load in Blender properly. I might make a little tutorial since the one I learned from is down for some reason.
  • Although Blender is a fine piece of software, I tend to favor substance painter for custom skin creating
  • Sorry for my inactivity, though: Blender is not working for me currently, which sucks, it says that I need to upgrade my graphics card or something, but my graphics card is up-to-date
  • edited September 2019
    @Liax What Blenden is saying is that your graphics card does not have the capabilities to run Blender. Maybe it's an older model or a low spec one (like the Intel ones).
    If you're sure your graphics card should be able to run Blender, try updating the drivers of the graphics card.
    If Blender used to run before on this graphics card, try downloading older versions of Blender.
  • edited September 2019
    Right

  • Anyhow, I can't really find any older blender versions to download, mind giving me a link, please?
  • edited September 2019
    @Liax Maybe it'll be easier if you tell us your computer specs. If you're on Windows 10, right click the start menu button and select "System", and reply with your processor, Installed memory and system type. Then right click again on the start menu button and select "Device manager", unfold the "Display adapters" and add all the items on this branch.

    About older Blender versions, all are available to download here: https://download.blender.org/release/

    As far as I know, the only new requirement for the latest Blender 2.80, is OpenGL 3.3. This requires an AMD Radeon HD3000 or newer, nVidia GeForce 8000 or newer, or integrated graphics from Intel Core CPUs from the 3000 generation or newer.
    Going back to Blender 2.79b you can run it with OpenGL 2.1, so it runs with GPUs several generations older than the ones listed.
  • edited September 2019
    Oof, I can't send it, since the imagine keeps getting corrupted
  • @Liax what image? If you refer to your computer's specs, you just have to type them here...
  • Oh right of course, I tried to screenshot my specs and send them here but it didn't work

    Here they are though:

    Device name": EnZetbee (Weird name I know lmao)

    Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.5GHz

    Installed Ram : 6.00 GB (5.74 usable)
    Device ID: 131D9352-C75F-4751-B6C7-F461AA7BAD3A
    Product ID: 00330=80000-00000-AA376
    System Type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

    Pen and touch is not available

  • edited September 2019
    @Liax ; You forgot to put the display adapter info, but I'm mostly sure you don't have a dedicated GPU.
    The GPU on your laptop is integrated on the CPU: "Intel HD Graphics 3000", and that one does not support OpenGL 3.3 on Windows; so for you to use Blender, you'll have to use version 2.79b, and you won't be able to update to 2.80 or later versions; this can't be fixed because adding a GPU to a laptop is not a reasonable thing to do.
    Also, mind you that as far as I know, you also won't be able to run Yiffalicious 2, because of the same reason: your GPU lacks features needed.
    This laptop must have like 8 years or so, maybe it's time you look for a new one.

    And lastly, and because of privacy concerns, I suggest to you to edit your post and delete the device name, Device ID and Product ID. I didn't ask for those.
  • edited September 2019
    @Horsie Well, I'm gonna change laptops anyway, since I got this one a few years back or so, plus when you said "Specs" I thought you meant everything, including the Device and Product ID. Isn't there an alternative to make skins by chance?
  • Okay wait.. I downloaded the 2.79b version of Blender, scrap the alternative part. How can I actually import a mesh including the skin attacked, from Yiffalicious?
  • edited September 2019
    If you have Blender up & running, importing the character model is done with File, Import, & then select .FBX (What Yiffalicious characters meshes use), then navigate to the character you want & select them. (You will likely have to delete the default Blender cube) Make sure you have downloaded the provided skins & meshes from the Downloads section of the Yiffalicious website. What comes next might be tl;dr, but it's the best explanation I can give. I recommend watching tutorials on the basics of Blender either way, as even simple navigation can be tough at first.

    To apply the character's skin to the mesh, right click the mesh. In the horizontal list of icons near the top right (In the default Blender UI layout) click the little icon that looks like a red & white checkerboard, under that click + New, under "Image" select Open. From there choose the appropriate skin to apply. The mesh will still look blank at this point, you then need to change the display mode to "Material" by clicking the little circle icon right next to "Object Mode" near the bottom left of the screen. You may also then need to click on the circle icon next to the red & white checkerboard icon to make the material that displays the skin not be pitch black. To do so, crank up the material's "Emit" slider under "Shading". To actually start painting onto the texture is another story, but I feel I've written enough for the time being.

    I am no Blender expert, I'm sure someone who uses it more than me would be able to give a much better & more in depth tutorial, but these are some of the very basics of messing around in Blender. I highly recommend going to YouTube & taking some time to watch some tutorial series as they will help you very much. Blender is complicated, but with that complexity comes a lot of options.

    Also in terms of alternatives, there are some. Any image editing program (Paint.Net, gimp, MSPaint, etc.) can edit the skins. The only problem is that it's hard to tell what you're actually editing since unwrapped skins aren't very intuitive (Random chunks of the character are strewn about the image) unless you are doing simple edits like changing the characters color using a hue slider. Photoshop versions that include some 3D modelling capabilities also work, but are also pretty complex like Blender. More expensive programs like Substance Painter have an easier learning curve than Blender & give better control over creating skins (Much more accurate drawing skins directly onto the character model) but are pretty expensive with limited free trials.
  • edited September 2019
    I give up, I can't do it WAY too complicated, I'll start a new general discussion real soon about skin creation ideas that I'd like to have made, most unlikely having a lot of skin ideas to post there though
  • Still too complicated; Whatever I do, I can't paint and I could not find the checkerboard-icon I give up, a new discussion will be open soon
  • Also, shown on the pictures, there is no "preview" of the materials on my screen
  • Yeah, it definitely can be very overwhelming & I'm sorry about that. With something like Blender you really need to start from the ground up, not just jump right in to where you want to be, & I guess that might not be worth it when you only want to do one thing.

    I would still recommend trying a 30 day free trial of Substance Painter, as the distance between figuring out all the fiddly little details & just painting things onto the character is much smaller than Blenders, which requires you to take weeks just to learn how to navigate around in it at all. If I were to write another long-winded tutorial on that, it would be easier to digest. If you've ever used Photoshop to do Photoshop things, then Substance Painter will feel similar to that but for 3D.
  • I had photoshop, but I lost it
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